On January 1, you may have made a New Year’s resolution or two—and if you did, chances are it was something tied to your well-being. As the first month of the year draws to a close, it’s time to take stock on those goals. Has your enthusiasm waned? Have you nearly given up? If so, not to worry—these luxury hotels can help. Whether you’re looking to drink less alcohol, eat better, or spend more time in nature, these seven wellness retreats and programs offer useful guidance to get back on track—and get a vacation out of it at the same time.
PHOTO : COURTESY SEA ISLAND
Resolution: Drink Less Alcohol
Maybe you’re keeping Dry January, curious about being sober, or just trying to go booze-free a few nights a week (or month…no judgment here). Either way, you need some go-to drinks that are tasty enough to satisfy your hankering while still being zero proof. Thankfully, Sea Island, the private island resort off the coast of Georgia, has launched new wellness classes that focus on better sleep, nutrition, and self-care. Our favourite? The Conscious Buzz class, a series of cocktail making sessions sans the alcohol. Under the guidance of the spa’s engaging nutritionist, participants learn to make creative, delicious, and healthy mocktails that people actually enjoy drinking. If you just can’t give up the booze, though, there’s also a Holistic Happy Hour class, in which you’ll create true cocktails with a healthy twist, incorporating Naturopathica tinctures.
PHOTO : COURTESY ELLERMAN HOUSE
Resolution: Sleep Better
Getting better quality sleep is known to reduce inflammation, manage stress, and improve mental focus, yet so many of us find it hard to have a truly restful night. Cape Town’s posh Ellerman House is hoping to change that with its newly launched Sleep Rooms, a first in Africa. The rooms, designed by internationally-renowned wellness consultant Harry Jameson, optimize the bedtime experience by removing all electronics from the room and providing guests with a Sleep Pack, filled with things like lemon verbena and argan oil bath salts, sleep-enhancing Stillness Body Butter, lavender and neroli pillow mist, comforting eye masks, and CBD chamomile tea. While the Sleep Rooms are available for booking anytime on their own, they are also a prominent part of the property’s new wellness retreats, which are led by Jameson. The three-night itineraryincludes sleep therapy, soothing spa treatments, a custom health menu, nutritional and cooking workshops, and yoga meditation classes.
PHOTO : COURTESY LE SIRENEUSE
Resolution: Spend More Time Outdoors
If you’ve been daydreaming of breaking the home-car-work chain and getting back in touch with the great outdoors—while also getting fit—look no further than the Dolce Vitality retreat (March 15–21 and November 1–7, 2020) at Italy’s famed Le Sirenuseon the Amalfi Coast. This retreat has some obvious perks, like hiking along some of the most beautiful cliffs on the planet, doing yoga and meditation with world-famous instructor Elena Brower, indulging in restorative massages, and eating vegan food prepared by one of world’s best chefs. A less obvious—but no less amazing—plus is the chance to check in to Le Sirenuse a week before it opens for the season in the spring or after it closes in the fall. Because Positano without the crowds is truly a beautiful thing.
PHOTO : COURTESY SHA WELLNESS CLINIC
Resolution: Exercise Your Brain
SHA Wellness Clinic, Europe’s award-winning, five-star integrated health and wellbeing clinic in Alicante, Spain, has dozens of programs to target multiple health and wellness issues—and is also one of very few places with programming focusing solely on brain health. So instead of doing more crosswords to keep to your resolution to improve your mind, sign up for treatments like Brain Photobiomodulation and Transcranial Current Stimulation. The former is a painless and non-invasive cognitive stimulation therapy using brand new technology and with a special focus on brain phototherapy; after just a few sessions, brain phototherapy has been shown to improve energy, performance, and a positive state of mind. Transcranial Current Stimulation, developed at Harvard University, analyzes, diagnoses, and treats neurological disorders such as depression, chronic pain, sleep disorders, strokes, and addictions, among others.
PHOTO : COURTESY CASA DELPHINE
Resolution: Eat Better
Resolving to eat healthier is one of the most common declarations on New Year’s Day. This year, instead of trying out the latest fad diet, why not learn how to cook healthy food and change your daily routine for good? Book the Wellness and Fermentation Retreat (April 16–20, 2020) at chic boutique hotel Casa Delphine in beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and learn techniques and recipes from Dutch recipe developer and chef Samantha Koch. The retreat features an array of cooking styles focused on improving gut health using plant-based cooking techniques, fermentation, and homemade nut milks. Guests will enjoy healthy meals at the hotel and in the city, excursions to local organic markets, and cooking classes and lectures on making the best dietary decisions. Outings to local hot springs and a one-hour massage are also included.
PHOTO : BY JEREMY KORESKI
Resolution: Be More Active
If you’ve challenged yourself to get off the couch more, go all out and head to luxe lodge Nimmo Bayon the edge of Canada’s British Columbia—a location so remote it’s only accessible by float plane—for their Evolve Retreat (May 11–15, 2020.) Daily group activities here are not for the weary: they include rainforest hikes, wilderness obstacle courses, open water swimming, ocean kayaking, paddle boarding, and yoga, combined with wellness workshops, cooking demonstrations, and one-on-one consultations with a team of wellness experts. At the end of each day, relax your muscles in the cedar-sided hot tub or at the floating sauna.
PHOTO : COURTESY AMANJIWO
Resolution: Get in Touch with Your Spiritual Side
If you’ve been itching to be more spiritual—in whatever way that means to you—we’ve got just the getaway. This year, Amanjiwo, the ultra-luxe Aman sanctuary in Java, Indonesia, is introducing the Ancient Wisdom of Java Retreat, inspired by the rich heritage of Javanese healing traditions and ceremonies. The three-night itinerary, available year-round starting in April, will include sessions with healers, lectures on Javanese spirituality, and a sunrise visit to the ancient Borobudur temple. Guests will also enjoy a Semedi meditation session and a 90-minute traditional Javanese Pijat deep-tissue massage. Plus, if your visit falls over a full moon, you’ll get to experience the Purnama Purification Ritual, an ancient ceremony intended to return a balance of energy to the body, spirit, and mind.
In 2024, there’s very few who wouldn’t know of Jaeger-LeCoultre and its enduring Reverso collection. Since 1931, the Reverso has served as the finest example of meticulous watchmaking from the Vallée du Joux; a collection revered for its legacy of tradition, and celebrated as one of the the seminal dress watches of the 20th century.
In recent years, the Reverso catalogue has only gone from strength to strength—in 2023 alone, we received the new Reverso Tribute Chronograph, the impressive Duoface Tourbillon, and the slimmer Reverso Tribute Small Seconds—capturing the imagination of watch admirers, collectors, and those looking to scale the horological ladder.
Today, the inimitable Reverso is omnipresent, thanks to successful new releases and exceptional branding experiences, such as ‘Reverso Stories’. Jaeger-LeCoultre is summoning its travelling Reverso trunk show to Australia once again, this time with a new base in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. For a limited time only, eager fans can get a glimpse of the Reverso collection up close and personal thanks to a multi-sensory exhibition retracing the history of this remarkable timepiece.
A story presented in four chapters—Icon, Style & Design, Innovation, and Craftsmanship—the iconic Reverso will be told through the lens of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s expert watchmakers who present nine decades of craftsmanship, inventiveness and design into one interactive experience.
As an added bonus, guests will be privy to a large-scale art installation by Korean artist Yiyun Kang—commissioned by the Maison under its ‘Made of Makers’ programme—as well as the launch of three exceptional new Reverso timepieces, yet to be revealed. These timepieces, chosen by the Maison to be launched in Sydney, will showcase the skills involved in creating a Reverso, such as enamelling, gold-leaf paillonage, and gem-setting, mastered by the Manufacture’s in-house Métiers Rares (Rare Handcrafts) atelier.
‘Reverso Stories’, an exhibit first created in 2021 for the 90th anniversary of the iconic timepiece, will take visitors on a compelling journey to discover its unique history, illustrated by a collection of archival Reverso models and modern-day highlights that any watch fan will appreciate. Completing the immersion into the spirit of Art Deco, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 1931 Café will invite guests to enjoy a complementary refreshment post-experience.
—
The ‘Reverso Stories’ experience will be held in Sydney’s Martin Place from 10–19 May 2024, opening daily from 9am to 7pm (and 5 pm on Sundays), with free access to the public. Visitors are welcome to book online here, or register upon arrival.
If you have taken part in a wine tasting, read an article about wine, or even glanced at the back label of a bottle of wine, you have likely encountered the word minerality. But defining what that means exactly is where the problems can start—even wine experts disagree on what it is and how it expresses itself in the glass.
Minerality refers to a flavour profile and often a palpable sensation in the mouth. The flavours generally involve rocks or fossils, such as stone, river rock, flint, gravel, slate, asphalt and oyster shell. There is also a sense of salinity, often derived from volcanic soils, that is a component of mineral-driven wines. This is different from other earthy flavours such as forest floor or peat. When we host tastings, very few people will own up to having licked rocks as a child, but almost everyone has gotten a stray bit of oyster or clam shell in their mouth and can recall the taste and texture. Most of us can remember the scent of a chalkboard or pencil lead from our childhood, and even those who have never fired a gun are familiar with flint or gunpowder from firecrackers.
When minerality is discussed, it is often a quality ascribed to white wine such as Riesling, Assyrtiko, Sauvignon Blanc or Burgundian Chardonnay. We may not hear about minerality in red wine so much because the oak used for maturation may mask the flavours and aromas associated with minerality. However, two reds sometimes described as having mineral qualities are those from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna in Sicily and the shale and quartz vineyards of Priorat in Spain. A prime example of the mineral-driven style is Chablis in the northernmost reaches of Burgundy, whose wines are made with 100 percent Chardonnay. The wines have a distinctly different character than the oaky, buttery style prevalent in Napa Valley and further south in Burgundy.
Walking through the vineyards of Chablis you can see abundant fossilised oyster shells that date back 150 million years to the Upper Jurassic period, when this area was at the bottom of the sea. Dig a bit; you will find calcified ammonites and spiral-shaped cephalopods from the same era. While vineyard soil is a discussion for another day, the grey limestone here is called Kimmeridgian, named for the village of Kimmeridge in Dorset, England, where it was first identified. As Thierry Bellicaud, president of Domaine Laroche in Chablis told Robb Report, “The Kimmeridgian limestone soil, which is unique to this area, delivers all needed nutrients for the balance of the vines. The terroir nurtures the vines which then express its personality in the grapes.”
Asked how soil composition influences one of Domaine Laroche’s wines, Bellicaud referenced its Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots, “Les Blanchots is a unique terroir made of a layer of white clay on Kimmeridgian limestone with ammonites. This is the ideal combination to keep the right amount of water for the roots. The southeast exposure allows slow ripening and favours aroma development. It is one of the areas in the appellation where you can easily find oyster fossils (called Exogyra virgula). The Grand Cru Les Blanchots is delicate, refined and silky in texture.”
Assyrtiko from Santorini is almost always described as possessing a mineral quality as well as a touch of salinity, which can be attributed to the black volcanic soil in which it grows as well as to the Aegean Seaspray that wafts over the island’s vineyards. Mosel Valley Riesling’s leanness and flinty character come from the red and blue limestone in which it is cultivated.
Italy’s Soave region is also known for the minerality of its wine. Alessio Inama, third-generation family leader and director of sales, marketing and communication at Inama Azienda Agricola, told Robb Report, “Soave Classico is a volcanic region with soil made up of basaltic rocks, volcanic tuffs and ashes that date back 30 million years. The soils offer minerals in their natural form, which impact the composition of the plants themselves. In the case of grape vines, the soils have a major influence on the resulting flavours of the wines, which are mineral and floral.”
Known for their scrupulous mapping of micro-plots within their vineyards, the Inamas produce several different Soave wines made with the Garganega grape. Inama I Palchi Foscarino Grande Cuvée Soave DOC is crafted from the family’s best plots on Monte Foscarino. Inama explained, “The soil of Foscarino is a mix of pure magma, ashes and basaltic rocks that deteriorated over millions of years into a dark clay that is extremely rich in minerals. The grapes from those 40-year-old vines have strong personality, great intensity and texture, delivering a complex bouquet of white flowers, citrus notes and flinty sensations.”
While the sensation of minerality can be less obvious in red wines, Spanish Garnacha and Sicilian Nerello Mascalese are two grapes that often exhibit it, thanks to both the locales from which they hail as well as the often-judicious use of oak. The slopes of eastern Sicily’s Mount Etna are covered with volcanic soils composed of pumice, black ash and basalt. Priorat, a region close to Barcelona in northeast Spain, is blessed with black quartz, slate and mica soils called llicorella. Here you will find vineyards covered with small fragments of black and grey striated rock sitting atop blue and red soils embedded with the same.
Ricard Rofes, winemaker at Scala Dei in Priorat, refers to its Mas Deu vineyard as one of the winery’s “jewels.” The origin of Scala Dei Tribut and Masdeu, it sits 800 meters (2,625 feet) above sea level. Rofes told Robb Report, “In this elevated area the clay and limestone soils are ideal for growing Grenache, giving the wine that touch of acidity and freshness that makes it unique. The red-clay soils and the altitude of the vineyards located in the lap of the Sierra de Montsant give it freshness and the llicorella soils impart a genuine imprint. Our wine is the pure expression of the fruit and the terroir with a distinct personality.”
Wellness pioneer Six Senses made a name for itself with tranquil, mostly tropical destinations. Now, its first alpine hotel recreates that signature mix of sustainable luxury and innovative spa therapeutics in a world-class ski setting.
The ski-in, ski-out location above the gondola of one of Switzerland’s largest winter sports resorts allows guests to schuss from the top of the Plaine Morte glacier to the hotel’s piste-side lounge, where they can swap ski gear for slippers, then head straight to the spa’s bio-hack recovery area to recharge with compression boots, binaural beats and an herb-spiked mocktail. In summer, the region is a golf and hiking hub.
The vibe offers a contemporary take on chalet style. The 78 rooms and suites are decorated in local larch and oak, and all have terraces or balconies with alpine views over the likes of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. With four different saunas, a sensory flotation pod, two pools
and a whimsical relaxation area complete with 15,000 hanging “icicles” and views of a birch forest, the spa at Six Senses Crans-Montana makes après ski an afterthought.
You can even sidestep the cheese-heavy cuisine of this region in favour of hot pots and sushi at the property’s Japanese restaurant, Byakko. Doubles from around $1,205; Sixsenses.com
Over the last few years, watch pundits have predicted the return of the eccentric TAG Heuer Formula 1, in some shape or form. It was all but confirmed when TAG Heuer’s heritage director, Nicholas Biebuyck, teased a slew of vintage models on his Instagram account in the aftermath of last year’s Watches & Wonders 2023 in Geneva. And when speaking with Frédéric Arnault at last year’s trade fair, the former CEO asked me directly if the brand were to relaunch its legacy Formula 1 collection, loved by collectors globally, how should they go about it?
My answer to the baited entreaty definitely didn’t mention a collaboration with Ronnie Fieg of Kith, one of the world’s biggest streetwear fashion labels. Still, here we are: the TAG Heuer Formula 1 is officially back and as colourful as ever.
As the watch industry enters its hype era—in recent years, we’ve seen MoonSwatches, Scuba Fifty Fathoms, and John Mayer G-Shocks—the new Formula 1 x Kith collaboration might be the coolest yet.
Here’s the lowdown: overnight, TAG Heuer, together with Kith, took to socials to unveil a special, limited-edition collection of Formula 1 timepieces, inspired by the original collection from the 1980s. There are 10 new watches, all limited, with some designed on a stainless steel bracelet and some on an upgraded rubber strap; both options nod to the originals.
Seven are exclusive to Kith and its global stores (New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Hawaii, Tokyo, Toronto, and Paris, to be specific), and are made in an abundance of colours. Two are exclusive to TAG Heuer; and one is “shared” between TAG Heuer and Kith—this is a highlight of the collection, in our opinion. A faithful play on the original composite quartz watch from 1986, this model, limited to just 1,350 pieces globally, features the classic black bezel with red accents, a stainless steel bracelet, and that creamy eggshell dial, in all of its vintage-inspired glory. There’s no doubt that this particular model will present as pure nostalgia for those old enough to remember when the original TAG Heuer Formula 1 made its debut.
Of course, throughout the collection, Fieg’s design cues are punctuated: the “TAG” is replaced with “Kith,” forming a contentious new brand name for this specific release, as well as Kith’s slogan, “Just Us.”
Collectors and purists alike will appreciate the dedication to the original Formula 1 collection: features like the 35mm Arnite cases—sourced from the original 80s-era supplier—the form hour hand, a triangle with a dot inside at 12 o’clock, indices that alternate every quarter between shields and dots, and a contrasting minuterie, are all welcomed design specs that make this collaboration so great.
Every TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith timepiece will be presented in an eye-catching box that complements the fun and colour theme of Formula 1 but drives home the premium status of this collaboration. On that note, at $2,200 a piece, this isn’t exactly an approachable quartz watch but reflects the exclusive nature of Fieg’s Kith brand and the pieces he designs (largely limited-edition).
So, what do we think? It’s important not to understate the significance of the arrival of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 in 1986, in what would prove integral in setting up the brand for success throughout the 90’s—it was the very first watch collection to have “TAG Heuer” branding, after all—but also in helping to establish a new generation of watch consumer. Like Fieg, many millennial enthusiasts will recall their sentimental ties with the Formula 1, often their first timepiece in their horological journey.
This is as faithful of a reissue as we’ll get from TAG Heuer right now, and budding watch fans should be pleased with the result. To TAG Heuer’s credit, a great deal of research has gone into perfecting and replicating this iconic collection’s proportions, materials, and aesthetic for the modern-day consumer. Sure, it would have been nice to see a full lume dial, a distinguishing feature on some of the original pieces—why this wasn’t done is lost on me—and perhaps a more approachable price point, but there’s no doubt these will become an instant hit in the days to come.
—
The TAG Heuer Formula 1 | Kith collection will be available on Friday, May 3rd, exclusively in-store at select TAG Heuer and Kith locations in Miami, and available starting Monday, May 6th, at select TAG Heuer boutiques, all Kith shops, and online at Kith.com. To see the full collection, visit tagheuer.com
Sicily has seen a White Lotus–fuelled surge in bookings for this summer—a pop-culture fillip to fill up its grandes dames hotels. Skip the gawping crowds at the headline-grabbers, though, and opt instead for an insider-ish alternative: the Grand Hotel des Étrangers, which reopened last summer after a gut renovation.
It sits on the seafront on the tiny island of Ortigia in Syracuse, all cobbled streets and grand buildings, like a Baroque time capsule on Sicily’s southeastern coast.
Survey the entire streetscape here from the all-day rooftop bar-restaurant, Clou, where the fusion menu is a shorthand of Sicily’s pan-Mediterranean history; try the spaghetti with bottarga and wild fennel or the sea bass crusted in anchovies. Idle on the terrace alfresco with a snifter of avola, the rum made nearby.
As for the rooms, they’ve been renovated with Art Deco–inflected interiors—think plenty of parquet and marble—but the main asset is their aspect: the best of them have private balconies and a palm tree-fringed view out over the Ionian Sea. Doubles from around $665; desetranger.com